Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Says Relations with U.S. are Frozen

Minister Nicolás Maduro ratified that the Venezuelan government aspires to have relations of respect and open communication. “We do not want a confrontation, but we do demand respect. We have the sovereign right to establish commercial relations with any country in the world,” he added.

Relations between Venezuela and the U.S. are frozen, said Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolás Maduro, who highlighted that the government of President Hugo Chávez has tried to restore a fluid and respectful dialogue with Washington.

“The [U.S.] relations…with Venezuela are frozen,” said Maduro during a television interview with Venezuelan journalist José Vicente Rangel. Maduro ratified that the Venezuelan government aspires to have relations of respect and communication with the U.S., “but [U.S.] foreign affairs and its disdainful approach towards Latin America seems to be developing a negative tendency.”

“On our side, we have made all the efforts to restore fluid communications and relations based on mutual respect with the government of the United States (…) The attempts to restore the situation fell down as a result of the incoherences, weaknesses and pressure from the far-right lobbies, to which that government is subservient,” he added.

Nevertheless, Maduro explained that the bilateral relations “remain immobile and there are no expectations that it could move towards positive relationship of communication and respect in the near future.”

Neither nation has had an ambassador since the 2010 nomination of Larry Palmer as the U.S. envoy to Caracas was rejected by the Venezuelan government due to his disrespectful and interventionist statements against Venezuelan policies.

In August 2010, Palmer said during a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate that morale of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Armed Forces was low and that the U.S. must support “civic leaders” to promote “a positive change in Venezuela.” Such statements were considered by the Venezuelan government “a serious precedent of interventionism and meddling.”

After the controversy, Washington revoked the visa of Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez.

The most recent incident between Caracas and Washington took place on May 24, when the U.S. Department of State announced sanctions against the Venezuelan state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) due to its commercial relations with Iran.

“They are trying to intimidate us. We do not want a confrontation, but we do demand respect. We have the sovereign right to establish commercial relations with any country in the world,” he highlighted.

“We have the capacity and the logistics to commercialize PDVSA products in any market in the world, in Asia, Africa, or South America” stressed Maduro.